Happy frigid morning, Early this morning, I heard a thump against my kitchen window here in Charlotte Park, West Nashville, Davidson County, a few blocks east of the Cumberland River and across from Bell's Bend. I looked through the French doors between the dining room and the deck to see one of the adult Cooper's hawks fly into the tree right behind the deck and perch on a low branch. After a few seconds, it flew to the neighbor's fence that borders my property only about 25 feet from the corner of my deck. It spent a few seconds there, then turned around to face the deck before it flew into a tree out back where it was somewhat hidden from the deck by a cedar tree. I have been warily awaiting a "Coop swoop" since then..........until just now! It just flew,with tail spread, after something which was out of sight at the south side of my house. There is gray feather residue on the kitchen window, but obviously the bird survived the blow. The hawk didn't have anything, and no bird is on the deck under the window. From the sound of the thump, I think it was a mourning dove, and the feather residue looks as if it came from a mourning dove's head area. Late yesterday, I returned home to find a great horned owl perched in one of my pine trees, up very close to the tree trunk as long-eared owls are said to do. It was still there when daylight ended and I could no longer see it. Just outside the French doors on the deck, I found a small clump of junco feathers. Apparently, it had become a meal for one of the Cooper's, an early snack for the owl, or maybe just a morsel for a "friendly" neighborhood cat. Also, when I pulled my car into the carport downstairs, BOTH Carolina wrens popped out of the gourd in which they raised their young and started giving a real fuss about being disturbed. I guess they are using that gourd as a warm roosting spot as they did last year. This is a four sparrow morning with a fabulous white-crowned sparrow eating away in the presence of my sweet little song sparrow, a pair of field sparrows and several white-throated sparrows. Where, oh where, are my little chippies that often winter here? It would also be nice to see the fox sparrow that appeared last year, but it only came when it snowed as I recall. The mockingbirds,chickadees, titmice and @*&$%# starlings are gorging on peanut butter "ice cream" this morning The PB is quite frozen in spite of the oil that it contains, so it's really fun to watch the birds chip away at it getting only tiny "bites." Two "bossy mocks" are up there now successfully getting some larger globs, but not as large as they usually like. Can anyone tell me WHY I have at least two SINGING robins? Ever since the rather warm, spring-like rains we had several days ago, two of my robins have been singing as if they think it IS spring. I would have thought this freezing weather would put a stop to that behavior, but they were out there singing away early this morning just as they do during mating season. Do you suppose the singing now translates into a call to the "troops" telling them, "It's COLD, let's migrate," for the last several days? It's been a fine morning. Now, I must replenish "Dee's Smorgabird" and head out to get a batch of errands done. I almost hate to leave home and miss any birdy excitement that might occur. Cheers, prayers & happy birding on a freezing day when I wish I could have taken the time to go on the Nashville TOS field trip instead of HAVING to do boring errands! Dee Thompson Nashville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________